Castle in the Air
by Amarie and the Inexplicable 3
Summary: It always works in fairy tales... but you never told me this wasn't one. A pseudo-ARF. Now updated with minor revisions and notes.


Final Fantasy VII and all related names and characters belong to Square. 

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It sounded so simple, the way he explained it to us in my kitchen all those years ago. In retrospect, too simple, but we were still young, and thought we could do anything -- after all, we had saved the world, hadn't we? Sitting around the table with our mugs of tea, we dreamed of adventure, of triumph, of old friends, and laughed. 

**Castle in the Air** ~ by Amarië 

  


"All we have to do is go back to the City of the Ancients. Red and I have done some research, and we think that we may have found a way to... to bring her back." 

"How? I've never heard of any materia, nothing that could bring back the dead." 

"When her mother died, you remember how we closed up the house? Well, we found this --" he held up a pale blue orb, too small to be materia, "among her things. It matches the description we found of a device to reverse certain effects of the past. So I just want to go there and... and try it. It may be a long shot, but I'm willing to take any chance." He looked around uncertainly, as if wanting approval. 

"I think it's a good plan," I said. 

"It'd better be if you dragged me all the way from Wutai to listen to it. I had to hire some kid to polish my materia while I was gone and the little bugger's charging me a fortune." 

"Don't you ever think about anything but your (#^*^@$& materia?" 

And the conversation turned to a free-for-all, followed by quiet as I made everyone mop up their tea. When we said goodnight and passed out the sleeping bags, our faces were radiant with excitement. As I drifted off to sleep, all I could think was, _Maybe I'll see her again... Aerith..._

She had died for us. Shouldn't she be given a second chance? 

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After a week of completely unnecessary preparation, during which we found and lost the Lunar Harp several times (it had been in my attic for two years), we were ready to go. Cloud had insisted that everyone be there, so we sent Barret and Cid to find Vincent, who turned up looking faintly annoyed, to the extent that he ever showed emotion. Bags were packed, a hundred different schemes were cooked up concerning the best way to get to our destination. Yuffie tried unsuccessfully to get Red to pull her baggage (which was considerable) in a wagon. Red turned up his nose at the very thought. 

The journey itself was uneventful, I suppose, but the old feeling of adventure, of camaraderie and a common goal, made the perfect prelude to fulfilling our objective. Only one thing -- or person -- was missing from the days of old, the first part of our long journey, when we were so hopeful and believing. Once we had her back, all would be complete. To tell the truth, I had often longed for that feeling; peace was wonderful, of course, but I wanted a purpose to my life, something to give it focus... all right, I was bored. 

And it's not like I wasn't going to be happy to see Aerith again; sure, she had had a very obvious thing for Cloud, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't sometimes resent it, but we had always been good friends. I don't think she ever had many friends... What reason was there for not trying to bring her back? 

As we walked through the forest, the anticipation grew. I don't think that by that time any one of us doubted that it would work, and Aerith would awaken just as she used to be, radiant and lovely and smiling at us _(even as she died she smiled... was it for us or just for him, I've always wondered...)_ and we would go home triumphant, the adventure complete. Cloud had taken on the look of some ancient martyr carved on the wall of her church, in an ecstasy of happiness that was almost painful, and Yuffie would suddenly start skipping, then stop, afraid that someone might see her. Only Vincent didn't fit the theme of general all-around happiness and confidence; but then again, I told myself, he was always like that, nothing to worry about. Still... 

"You look worried. Don't you think it'll work?" 

"It's not that. I wonder..." 

"What?" 

"I wonder whether it would be a good thing to bring her back to life. Death can be a gift in its way, Tifa... should we take that away from her?" 

"What are you talking about? Of course it'll be a good thing! She couldn't have wanted to die like that, at the hands of a madman, without a chance to say goodbye to anyone. We all want to see her again. Why not try?" 

"..........." 

I didn't understand his doubt. What could he be talking about? "Vincent..." I hesitated. This seemed an awfully personal question to ask. 

"Yes?" 

"If you... well, if you had the chance to bring Lucrecia back, wouldn't you?" 

"...No." 

I looked up. His face had that same look of sadness that I had seen when -- 

"There it is!" But someone had spotted the city ahead, and doubts were forgotten as we rushed ahead. 

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I knelt by the edge of the pool, looking in. As clear as the water was, the bottom was not visible. Whether this was because of magic or simply its deepness I do not know, but when he dove in he came back up quickly. She was there, just as I had pictured her, the clean wound visible, and smiling that soft sympathetic smile. He laid her down, and as we stood in a circle around her, I thought she looked as if she were merely sleeping. Vincent was still frowning; I would have asked him why he disturbed our happiness if the atmosphere had not precluded any talk. 

Cloud fumbled in his pocket and brought out the orb. In the pale light, it glimmered with a thousand different colors; we watched it send out a shower of sparkles and shatter with a faint 'ping' that echoed off the walls. 

"Please... please let Aerith come back to us," he said softly. I held my breath. For a minute there was silence. Then Cloud dropped to his knees and held her; a faint pang of jealousy rippled over the serenity of my heart. Slowly and with what seemed great effort, her fingers closed around his. The green eyes opened just a fraction. 

"Aerith?" 

Her eyes opened wider, and focused on his face, then on the rest of us. 

"Cloud..." 

"Don't say anything; we'll take you home." 

"Cloud, I'm sorry... I can't stay," she whispered, and her voice seemed dissociated from her body, as if coming from far away. "They're waiting for me... on the other side... I don't belong here." 

"But I never got to thank you for what you did! We've never said goodbye, or..." 

"Was not my parting gift enough?" I thought that I heard the sound of bells chiming, high-pitched and calling; but it may have been the wind in the crystal trees. "I... I have to go now. Promise me... promise me you won't cry." 

"Aerith!" 

"I'll smile for you... like I used to..." Her eyes dimmed, and closed, and she went limp again. Standing by watching her slip back, I wanted to cry out, to break the awful silence, to do something to stop it, but I just stood there with tears rolling down my cheeks. Her face still wore the eternal smile; had she ever stopped smiling? 

What more is there to tell? We restored the place to its original state and went back home. And that was all; that is all there will ever be. Vincent was right, I suppose; she had given us as her parting gift the sacrifice of herself, a shining treasure, and we had shattered it to find what was inside; only memories, dry and faded. Nothing had been accomplished, but something had been lost, and we will never be quite the same for lack of it. 

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The times of old are gone; they will never come again, and my memories are tarnished. 

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author's notes: This is my take on the whole "Aerith resurrection" thing. I don't think that she was meant to come back, and I wanted to convey the impression that they were thinking more about themselves than about her when they decided to try it. Since I got good reviews for this story, I decided to send it in to Gameforms (www.gameforms.com) -- and they accepted it! Before I did that, though, I made some revisions, and this is the version you see here. Thanks to everyone who reviewed -- I am deeply and humbly grateful.


End file.
